Archive for June, 2011

Google’s “Panda” algorithm is the weapon the company has deployed to beat back the “content farms” and prevent them from filling Google’s search-result pages with raw sewage. This is critical not only to Google’s survival, but to anybody who has a business website.

The video below by SEO superstar Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz is the best explanation of Panda that I have seen.

President Obama has launched a war to bring “democracy” to Libya, but what’s so special about Libya? Why do they get the democracy? What about us?

The great thing about an effort to bring democracy to the USA is that we already have the paperwork done. We already have a constitution that was written and adopted by elected representatives of the people.

President Obama wouldn’t have to bomb anybody. As a matter of fact, he could restore our democracy all by himself simply by adhering to the Constitution.

Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich is trying to get him to do just that. From HuffPo:

“My amendment will provide the first test whether this Congress will defend its own authority under Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution,” Kucinich said in a statement. “Congress must use its constitutional authority of the power of the purse to end this war.”

Of course, Congress might very well give the President approval for the war. But that isn’t the point. The point is to have a vote; cuz the constitution sez so.

When Saint Obama was beatified in 2008, his supporters were so ecstatic that some of them actually gave him a Nobel Peace Prize before he was even inaugurated. Here is one of the things the Nobel committee mentioned in their award:

“Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.”

Silly Norwegians. They really ought to take their prize back, unless of course “laureate” is Latin for “shoot you in the face with a cruise missile.”

No, Saint Obama has not delivered on expectations at all. He is, in fact, making a point of continuing the modern presidential tradition of scoffing at the constitutional checks-and-balances as they apply to making war.

My father was a democrat, but he never liked Dennis Kucinich when he was mayor of Cleveland. I don’t recall what his exact beef was, but I remember him saying that Kucinich “was a trouble-maker”. I suspect Obama is of the same opinion.

On June 19th, the 90-day period of the War Powers Act will expire on Obama’s Libya campaign. But nothing will happen. Obama will just ignore Congress.

Democracy and Empire do not go together.

In a military empire, Caesar does not consult the plebs when he deploys his legions.

A few months ago, we saw the Saudis become irate with President Obama after he fomented rebellion in Saudi Arabia/Bahrain. The Saudis cut back on oil production, pushed up the price of gasoline, and pushed down Obama’s approval rating.

But last week, the Saudis defied the rest of OPEC and vowed to increase production. So, there must be some kind of deal, right? But what is it? Here’s my theory:

The Saudis are backing the Sunni faction in Syria to overthrow the Iranian-backed Shiite regime. Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had the rebellion mopped up until the Muslim Brotherhood joined the fight last week. The MB had previously declined to participate in the Arab Spring, so why where they suddenly in the trenches?

DEBKAfile thinks that Obama has done a deal with the Turks to back a MB regime in Syria. However, it is supposed to be a Turkish-style secular regime. So, the MB can take power, but they won’t retain backing if they impose Sharia law. A lot of Syrian refugees have been fleeing into Turkey, so the Turkish army is preparing to intervene on the side of the rebels just like NATO has in Libya.

The Saudis must love this deal because it will make them 2-0 vs Iran. One victory in Bahrain in defiance of Obama, and a second victory in Syria in alliance with Obama.

Of course, Bashar Assad is not yet defeated, and the Iranians could send troops to assist him. Will the Iranians back down again, like they did in Bahrain? Maybe so. Geopolitical analyst George Friedman has long said that Turkey would be one of the rising powers of the future. And if the Turks put troops into Syria, the Iranians might skulk away.

Will there be blowback domestically for Obama once people realize that he is trying to bring an MB regime to power? Maybe that could scuttle the deal – especially if the fighting drags on as it has in Libya and Americans have time to realize what’s going on.

How many of the 44 million people on food stamps own smart phones? I don’t know, but according to this story, 64.5% of new mobile customers signed up for low-end, pre-paid service in the first quarter. And that’s more than double the number from 2006.

Poverty is a problem after all. Who knew, right?

What’s amazing is that there is no serious effort, or even discussion about bringing the factories home. Sure, it’s fashionable now to say that “labor arbitrage is over”, but even if that were true, which it probably isn’t, so what? We are left with the horror of a vast swath of our population not able to feed themselves, let alone buy TV shows via an iPad.

As we sit here waiting for Japan to save us, by resuming the export of auto parts to Mexico, where they will be “assembled” by former US plants, imported into the USA, and then sold by our fabulous “service economy” auto-dealers so that our lackluster economic expansion can continue at a blistering 1% pace, one wonders exactly when we will see ourselves for what we really are: a developing nation in need of protection from foreign imports.

For a long time, South Korea was one of the few places in the world where you couldn’t find a Toyota to save your life. Why not? Because of their “Automobile Industry Protection Act” adopted in 1962.

But protectionism is bad, right? Surely it must have caused a disaster in South Korea!

Guess again.

South Korea now has the 5th largest auto industry in the world, and is nipping at Germany’s heals. See the league tables here.

We opened our markets to European and Asian exporters to help build them up after World War Two, and fend off the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Guess what?

Mission accomplished.

We saved the free world.

But if you think that we won the Cold War without paying a price, guess again.

The price is all too visible in our gargantuan national debt and massive food-stamp population.

Are we now a “developing” nation? Maybe not technically, but it would behoove us to act as if we were so that we have a chance of staving off such an outcome.

One of the few remaining items on the asset side of the national balance sheet is our huge consumer market. Sure it’s melting away as more and more people descend into poverty, but as the saying goes: “there is a lot of ruin in a nation.”

In other words, it might not be too late.

It’s time to start thinking of the USA as a developing nation. It’s time to circle the protectionist wagons, South Korean style, and adopt a national policy of industrial growth.

We have tried financial engineering. We have tried to mark-up the price-tags on our houses. We have tried to conquer oil-rich lands. And President Obama has tried to “double exports”.

Guess what?

It was all BS.

The “glorious” decade of wide open “free trade” with low-wage nations like Mexico, China, and India has SMASHED our economy.